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our
story
"Waitering should be done with a smile"
That’s what CaterMate founder Alexander Silén said in 2016 when the company was founded. This motto is still very much in the spirit of our daily activities - and will always be. In 2015, we were volunteering to serve our acquaintances at a student party. We were asked what company we represent, when our customer service was so positive and with the right attitudes? Although none of us had ever attended training in the catering industry, we found that attitude alone can get you far. Since that day, we have changed the Finnish serving industry one step at a time.
Today, CaterMate's happy team includes about 200 waiters in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere. Our partners in the HoReCa-industry are the best of the best, and our over 10 000 served hours guarantee our quality! The quality of the service is ensured by the CaterMate training that each employee has gone through. Our “Relax, it's your party!” philosophy ensures that every event becomes unforgettable. I hope we can make your event perfect too!
Oliver Mänttäri, CEO
chapter two:
LUNCHMATE
For many reasons, 2020 will be a memorable year as the corona crisis silenced the entire world for months. For CaterMate, this meant that we could not employ our waiters when our business came to a complete halt overnight. So we came up with an alternative solution, and quickly built the LunchMate delivery service to sustain our business. LunchMate was designed to support local catering services whose business would otherwise have stalled, employ our employees, and bring delicious lunches to busy families. LunchMate successfully delivered hundreds of lunches in the Helsinki metropolitan area and Turku. However, we decided to close down LunchMate when the restaurants opened their doors again on June 1, 2020. Our work here was done!
equality in catermate
The most important thing for us is the well-being and comfort of the waiters at events and outside of them. We want to be a pioneer in the HoReCa sector and set an example. This is why we work actively to create trust in equality matters.
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We want to build an atmosphere where diversity is respected. Therefore, our operation is based on the fact that all employees – regardless of age, gender, sexuality, religion, health status, functional status, language or ethnic/national origin – should have the opportunity to participate in the company's activities. Diversity is seen as a valuable part of the company and its employees.
to a new rise
After the corona restrictions eased in 2021, the phone started ringing, many employees in the restaurant and catering industry had quit and moved to another industry. 80% of the restaurants had trouble finding staff and the party was two years in advance. The number of applicants for HoReCa studies had also dropped from 10 thousand (2018) to around one thousand (2020). Many of our competitors had gone out of business. In a year, we have recruited and trained more than 100 waiters in the HoReCa industry. We look for the right people and with the help of our innovative training process, we create waiters in an industry that needs more and more of them. At the end of this year, CaterMate will have around 200 waiters in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere.
